Posted on: September 24, 2007

Added Value

Built-in storage solutions are offering more options to homeowners yearning for creative, stylish and accessible ways to package their belongings for practical use

By Margraret Littman
CTW Features

When John Mayner and his wife decided to remodel their 1922 home in the Junius Heights neighborhood of Dallas, they wanted to keep with the style of the older home.

But with two growing sons and just three bedrooms, the couple also needed places to put all that stuff modern families need and want, such as a TV and DVD player, along with the requisite DVDs, CDs, video games and other electronic ephemera.

Dallas-based Three Sons Cabinet Shop created a 16-foot-long custom storage unit for the Mayners’ living room, with bookshelves, window seats and a large entertainment center with plenty of storage. The crown molding trim on the top mimics the trim on the original mantel around the fireplace but does not block the double-hung windows in the room.

The end result: The Mayners aren’t tripping over all the accessories of modern life, but have a set-up that works like an on-command home theater, perfect for family nights at home with rented movies and popcorn.

“We are average folks, living in an approximately 2,300-square-foot home. We don’t have, and couldn’t afford, a separate ‘home theater,’” Mayner says.

The Mayners’ decision to invest in custom, built-in storage is not atypical, says Dalia Tamari, founder and president of Boston-based Dalia Kitchen Design Inc. Tamari has watched built-in cabinets once used exclusively in kitchens, crop up all over the house. In addition to room-spanning custom projects like that of the Mayners’, other built-ins help fill otherwise unusable spaces. Rosemary Forrest didn’t know what to do with the awkward space – a “dark, boxy area, too small for a real room, too large to ignore” – that emerged when she pulled out the old heater and installed central heat in her 1940s Savannah, Ga. home. So, she built a bar with a wine rack, racks for glasses, two glass-front cabinets and a dry sink.

Carol Abrahamson, owner of Sedona, Ariz.-based Extraordinary Homes and the self-appointed queen of built-ins, suspects the boom in built-ins will continue. “Just 500,000 people [built] new homes in the U.S. [in 2003], but 26 million [remodeled] them. If they already have a house with finite space, they want it to have more functionality.”

Like almost every other home improvement you can consider, built-ins run the gamut from budget to luxury. The more bells and whistles the custom cabinetry includes – such as refrigeration and electricity – the higher the price tag. High-end materials, from specialty woods to fancy fixtures, also boost costs. But Abrahamson says if you can time your built-in additions when your walls and ceiling are open for some other reason, such as other renovation or plumbing or electrical repair, you can eliminate much of the most exorbitant cost of the projects.

“If you’ve already got things open to put in new appliances, you are able to make these more affordable,” she says. Included here is a room-by-room tour of some of the most popular ideas for built-in storage, all of which can be adjusted for bare bones budgets or made luxurious by those who have more to spend.

The Front Yard

Yes, built-ins can even extend outside to the front edge of your property. Abrahamson likes protected and secure space at the curb for package pick-ups and drop-offs, mounted above or below your mailbox to avoid curb clutter.

A sensor inside can alert you to a package, useful if your mailbox is at the end of a long, winding driveway or if you have a sleeping infant and want to minimize doorbell interruptions.

If security is an issue, the same built-in, or similar one at the front door, can include a camera and microphone for identifying visitors before you open the door. Not nearly as high-tech, but equally functional, are outside closets, cabinets and benches to store hoses and garden tools out-of-sight and at waist height at every outdoor faucet.

The Entry Way

An absolute must in rehabbed homes today is a “generous guest closet,” according to Abrahamson. Near the front door, this closet should have built-in compartments for wet and dry gear, somewhere open umbrellas can dry (assuming you are not superstitious) without getting anything else wet. Cubicles and hooks for mittens, scarves and hats are common.

A similar construction at a back entrance or mudroom can house backpacks, briefcases and day-to-day family accoutrements, out of the line of sight of visitors.

The Garage

Battery charging stations, created with shelves near clusters of electrical outlets, are perfect for making sure all those 21st century accessories – cell phones, digital cameras, PDAs and even lawn and household tools – are charged and ready to go when they are needed. Similar stations can be installed in other utility areas, such as the laundry room, kitchen, a hall closet or even a home office.

Don’t think of built-ins as only for humans. A floor-level deep sink near the dog’s entrance is perfect for cleaning dirty paws before Fido sets paw on the white carpet. Storage cabinets nearby can hold soap and towels, as well as dog food, leashes and other canine necessities.

Kitchen

The birthplace of built-ins, kitchens today aren’t just home to rows of cabinets and the occasional appliance garage. Tamari likes layered cabinets with drawers and doors that slide out to hide storage, perfect for spices, small spoons and specialty utensils and other items that create clutter.

A liquid soap dispenser and a stainless-steel-lined, covered garbage chute built into the kitchen counter near the sinks is increasingly common, with extra bins for composting, recycling and other waste to be separated.

Bedrooms

Taking inspiration from the kitchen, there is a cubby for everything in the bedroom. In fact, the best built-in closets emulate the refrigerator, with closet and cabinet lights that turn on automatically as their doors open. Inside are rows of hooks and specially designed shelves custom-fit to accommodate ties, shoes, handbags, scarves, more shoes and whatever your personal collection includes.

Like those sliding doors and drawers in the kitchen, Tamari likes hidden nooks and crannies and sliding panels for putting away small items. Such devises can be a security boon, for hiding jewelry out of plain sight, but still easy enough to grab for an evening out.

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